Costello, Elvis - Shipbuilding Lyrics






Is it worth it
A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
And a bicycle on the boy's birthday
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
By the women and children
Soon we'll be shipbuilding
Well I ask you
The boy said 'DAD THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE ME TO TASK
BUT I'LL BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS'
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
Somebody said that someone got filled in
For saying that people get killed in
The result of this shipbuilding
With all the will in the world
Diving for dear life
When we could be diving for pearls
It's just a rumour that was spread around town
A telegram or a picture postcard
Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
And notifying the next of kin
Once again
It's all we're skilled in
We will be shipbuilding
WITH ALL THE WILL IN THE WORLD
DIVING FOR DEAR LIFE
WHEN WE COULD BE DIVING FOR PEARLS





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Costello, Elvis Shipbuilding Comments
  1. k.... t....

    The great puzzle is not what makes oligarchs want continuous wars, that's obvious, but what makes the dispossessed want to fight them instead of rebelling?

  2. S.... ....

    It's just a rumour that was spread around town... Deep.

  3. d.... ....

    Steve: you did a beautiful job of getting the photos and music together. Thanks!

  4. L.... G....

    Very good pics - hard times I remember them well

  5. m.... ....

    I'll always have to ignore the typically utopian, socialist, left wing shit that acompanies this song. Because it is beautiful.

  6. G.... C....

    Is it worth it
    A new winter coat and shoes for the wife
    And a bicycle on the boy's birthday


    It's just a rumour that was spread around town
    By the women and children
    Soon we'll be shipbuilding


    Well I ask you
    The boy said 'DAD THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE ME TO TASK
    BUT I'LL BE BACK BY CHRISTMAS'


    It's just a rumour that was spread around town
    Somebody said that
    Someone got filled in
    For saying that people get killed in
    The result of this shipbuilding


    With all the will in the world
    Diving for dear life
    When we could be diving for pearls


    It's just a rumour that was spread around town
    A telegram or a picture postcard
    Within weeks they'll be re-opening the shipyards
    And notifying the next of kin

    Once again
    It's all we're skilled in
    We will be shipbuilding


    WITH ALL THE WILL IN THE WORLD
    DIVING FOR DEAR LIFE
    WHEN WE COULD BE DIVING FOR PEARLS

  7. p.... g....

    I was coming up from the engine room on a ship in Japan after we had just docked in Yokohama. Someone had brought the first edition English newspapers aboard while I was shutting down the main engine and, shutting down generators for docked conditions. As I walked into the officers saloon I was told that we were sending a task force to fight Argentina. "You're fucking mad mate! Argentina is on the opposite side of the fucking world! Why would we go to war with Argentina?" I know the answer now of course. It was to get Thatcher re-elected!

  8. T.... l....

    Let's call bullshit on this madness for assholes causes ....we don't share! Peace!

  9. B.... R....

    Great song! Thanks for sharing! just subscribed. I did an acoustic cover of this song. Please feel free to have a listen!

  10. S.... S....

    Incredible song that can bear many repeated listens.. always thought it was written by EC until I read down some of the comments

    S.... S....

    It was written by Elvis Costello (the lyrics at least). Clive Langer wrote the tune for Robert Wyatt, but wasn't happy with the lyrics and when he played it for Elvis, he wrote new lyrics which became the song. After Wyatt's version was recorded, Elvis decided to do his own version for Punch the Clock.

  11. Y.... R....

    Chet Baker is playing on the trumpet. I can listen to this all day long.

    Y.... R....

    find this music today. first Tube recommended me "chet baker - almost blue" ... then wikipedia told me about this song ...

  12. C.... B....

    This was nice. Although I do prefer the original by Robert Wyatt. Still it was nice to hear a jazzy version by Elvis Costello. This is also one of the best anti-war songs I could ever hope to hear. There is a longing in the sadness inherent in this song that is not angry but melancholic. This song says to me "this is how you should feel about war. Not anger . Sadeness"

    C.... B....

    It was written by Elvis C so Mr Wyatts is not the original my friend

    C.... B....

    @Paul Darcy I think he means original in the sense that Wyatt's was released before Costello's.

  13. T.... A....

    One of the best anti_war songs of all time

    T.... A....

    This and Donovan universal soldier and ian brown illegal attacks.

  14. k.... m....

    prefer costellos to wyatts version think its got more emotion prefer costellos voice aswell

  15. A.... M....

    I have a perspective on this video that others may not have.
    Surprisingly in 1982 I found myself drafted immediately after my training in April to join a destroyer and head south.
    Due to enemy action my Destroyer had to return to port in the UK but believe me, in that time i was frightened shitless. Please remember most of us were only kids, i was the eldest of my intake and i was 19.
    35 years on i found myself living in Argentina with a lovely Argentinian family, some of the kindest people I've ever known. Yet, and sadly, there are so many Argentinians who can't let go. Everywhere there are car stickers, or worse official road signs stating 'Malvinas Argentinas'.
    For years i believed my war was a Thatcher ego trip, and it was. I despise military conflict, of course I do , I'm in my 50s with children. But you know what ? As much as i despise the Bennies (Falkland Islanders) for their distorted view of Britishness, I would do so again tomorrow. Because despite everything, these people fought a war on their doorstep, for something they inherently believed in and lost.
    Yet still they refuse to accept their murderous junta was wrong and that those islanders have any say in their future.
    Believe me, this country deserves nothing. Arrogant, racist and loathed by its neighbours.
    I'm sorry to say this but f*** Argentina.

    A.... M....

    What a word salad of utter tripe.

    A.... M....

    Sin duda la guerra fue gestada por una junta militar asesina, que además abandonó a sus propios soldados (todos niños) en las peores condiciones posibles. Nada mejor tengo para decir de Tatcher y el colonialismo inglés. Lamento que consideres Argentina un país de gente arrogante y racista. Este país históricamente ha recibido gente de todo el mundo sin restricciones. Es un país donde cualquier persona puede acceder a un hospital público y no se piden documentos a un niño para entrar a la escuela pública. Es por eso que tenemos una inmigración variada y constante. Miles de personas de todo el mundo ingresan al país y consiguen trabajo sin dificultad. Cosa poco común en la mayoría del mundo. Incluso en este momento en que vivimos bajo un régimen neoliberal.

    A.... M....

    @Andrea Suris mae Llywodraethau yn gwneud rhyfel nid pobl, mae ffrind da iawn i mi wedi colli ei thad ar Syr Galahas yn Bluff Cove. Llwythi o barch i'r Ariannin o Gymru.

    A.... M....

    Lame takes all around...

  16. D.... P....

    Malvinas son Argentinas....!

  17. B.... M....

    Thanks Steve for posting images to match what I unsucessfully trying to say.

  18. M.... A....

    The Ding Dong row was a huge missed opportunity, that track was bound to tie the BBC up in knots. If they’d gone for something actually political, they’d have had a much greater impact.

    Had this been pushed up the chart, the BBC would have had no excuse to ban it or flannel round it with newsreaders etc. and there would have been a genuine outcry if they’d tried to kill its playing, and we’d have been able to listen to a really important song. Boo, hiss.

  19. B.... D....

    amazing song. no one does this shit anymore. just write a song about what you dont agree with.Elvis Costello is an awesome talent

    B.... D....

    Brian Dixon its a cover version

    B.... D....

    @Patrick Swan Costello wrote the words

  20. C.... M....

    Nice tune.Why the desert army ?

  21. j.... ....

    no.. different sound.

  22. J.... S....

    44 now. Was 18 when this came out. We had our own Elvis all along!!!! I know which one I prefer!

  23. J.... S....

    If ever there was a song about the banalities of war then this is it.

  24. M.... D....

    What a great vid, thank you.What a strange time in UK history. I remember UK during early 1980's constantly giving back very small country's they had colonized. I was in UK in 1984 seem like some small dot of a island every other day would get "independence". Also the US has the "Monroe doctrine, which says no one else gets to touch any of the "America's?

    I used 2 have the words of all of Elvis's songs memorized when I was 11 or so.I never even tried on this song.Very heavy, and beautiful.

    M.... D....

    Colonized and improved. The British Empire improved it's Countries.

    M.... D....

    muppetrolf the British built roads in Honduras - logging roads. They cut down all of the mahogany trees and shipped em to England. As the dead tree roots collapsed, so did the roads, but the brits didn’t care, they had what they came for.

  25. P.... S....

    Is that Chet Baker on the trumpert?

    P.... S....

    Pete Stott Yup.

  26. C.... G....

    *costello

  27. J.... ....

    wyatt recorded it first though i believe. they are both great. very different but equally powerful versions.

  28. J.... ....

    yeah i know he wrote it

  29. N.... C....

    This was written by Elvis Castello. Whatever the song's meaning was has been captured perfectly by him.

    N.... C....

    I'm new to Robert Wyatt but I believe he wrote it

    N.... C....

    @Curtis Ball Nope...the lyrics were written by Clive Langer....for Robert Wyatt.

    N.... C....

    @Anthony Hedberg NO

  30. R.... B....

    Chet!!!

  31. c.... ....

    With the death of Thatcher, this song is somehow even more poignant. Let us not forget that hundreds of our soldiers, sailors and airmen died; as did even more young Argentinan conscripts, over a few almost uninhabited islands that months before the British government were preparing to hand over to Argentina.

  32. J.... ....

    this is a great version with broader appeal but i will always prefer robert wyatt's version, there's something so much more fragile and raw about it that matches the subject matter so much more powerfully. this is a bit too laid back and radio friendly for a song which is essentially about death, but then again maybe that is it's power. sneaking up on people when they are just expecting a pop song. anyway, genius all around!

  33. x.... ....

    Morrissey likes this.

  34. g.... ....

    With music by Clive Langer but you are right it wasn't Wyart

  35. m.... ....

    I'm watching this the day that Margret Thatcher died...and I'm remembering and feeling for more for those mentioned in this song than I could ever feel for her. Farewell Maggie!!

    m.... ....

    moooksta rot in hell mag ✊💦

  36. A.... W....

    It was written by Elvis Costello.

  37. S.... D....

    Robert Wyatt ,who wrote it ,did ,in my opinion , a better rendition ,altho this is superb too ! :)

    S.... D....

    Elvis wrote.

  38. h.... ....

    the bitch is dead. good riddance.

  39. M.... E....

    When someone like Robert "tries out" one of your songs, his honesty comes through and it's difficult for him to not convey the song's feeling, if not stumbling upon a new perspective of it.

  40. B.... ....

    Beautiful. Thanks.

  41. d.... ....

    Thanks Radio 4 - I'd never heard Shipbuilding until this week. Can't believe I'd missed out on this amazing song so atmospherically catching the spirit of the time. I love both versions

  42. k.... ....

    HEAR, HEAR. DO NOT TRY. LEAVE IT BE!

  43. M.... W....

    Excellent imagey. Well done!

  44. G.... ....

    Robert Wyatt did a pretty good job.

  45. b.... ....

    or Tasmin Archer....wonderful cover..

  46. b.... ....

    thanks. that's really interesting. with all this talk of defense cuts being a bad thing I couldn't help thinking of this song. It is a hard thing to think about.

  47. N.... C....

    robert wyatt's version was the original. clive langer wrote it for him, and got stuck writing the lyrics, so asked costello to write them. both said it was the best song they'd written.

  48. R.... S....

    When the world is being bombatomed, this song is keeping the class on.

  49. d.... ....

    you have obviously never heard robert wyatt's version...

  50. T.... V....

    The best "Anti-War" song ever written... How utterly brilliant - Declan - Us mortals bow to your greatness - Chet Baker, holy shit...Wot? Fucking, absolutely, great.

  51. c.... ....

    This montage is a credit to you, and does justice to this wonderful and moving song.
    Thank you.

  52. D.... G....

    You are right, it is about the big business of war. To the powers that be, people are dispensable pawns.

  53. H.... B....

    There is one outstanding cover version. Stick Robert Wyatt - 'Shipbuilding' (1982) as your search criteria into YouTube search.

  54. P.... M....

    I'm with you on that one I to am at a loss. What go's on?

  55. P.... M....

    Cameron has not got started yet wait until he drags us out of the eu and all workers lose their rights that's when the fun will start

  56. P.... M....

    we new there was oil there back then, the inhabitants were a great excuse to fight for and win another election

  57. P.... M....

    I miss you Paul Powell my mate R.I.P.

  58. M.... L....

    Look, the situation is entirely different now. Argentina is no longer a dictatorship and the Brits just argue that the inhabitants of the Falkland islands want to remain part of the British homeland. Cristina Kirchner has brought up the issue again, in the context of British imperialism, which is a legitimate discussion. Nobody would want to start a war again because of these tiny outposts...

  59. d.... y....

    I watched the thatcher film with meryl streep and i thought it was good .It really made you realise how despised that woman was.I really dont think teenagers today realise how she destroyed the u.k economy and destroyed so many lives.Compared to thatcher Cameron is a gentleman.This song still makes me want to cry.

  60. s.... ....

    I'm at a loss for how anyone could think for even a minute that this song makes it seem like Costello is for the war. It struck me in totally the opposte way immediately.

  61. a.... ....

    I continue from my last point - America, they emplaced the shah and destabilised that country further, chasing oil. They got soundly buggered in 73 and 79, the latter a double whirlwind reaped, and it screwed europe too. Prosperity simply must be shared, or the voters take it all for granted and politicians have to act in ever more aggressive ways to retain dominance, until boom, I think.

  62. T.... ....

    youtube really needs the Mr McFall's Chamber cover of this. It's done in cockney, and is on the Sometimes God Smiles album by DGM.

  63. K.... R....

    Just listened to the new Bowie tune - it totally reminded me of this. But I do have to say this is better.

  64. M.... e....

    agreed , lets not play their games anymore , Peace

  65. a.... ....

    @spotthirteen this again is america... they ousted democracy in iran, they give

  66. C.... K....

    A very eloquent way of saying big bullies, maybe you should be more concerned with what's happening in the oil bearing countries. Just a thought Mr Thesaurus.

  67. W.... A....

    Amen x

  68. m.... ....

    Arturo, GB leased Hong Kong from China - at the end of the lease the PRC said they wanted it back and so like good law-abiding leaseholders we gave it to them.

    And I don't the Argentine Government or people are quite as local as the people who actually live on the Falkland Islands - so I think Falkland Island people's "local opinion" counts for rather more. I think the legal principle of self-determination apply.

  69. A.... M....

    Sorry. I didn't read all teho posts. but I must be desagree with a point for two reasons.
    The opinion of islanders don't count.
    1st) Why GB dont listen the opinions od teh people of Hong Kong? British give that land to china withpout listen the local people.
    2nd) Argentina peacefully calim the islands for more than 100 years. So, after all those years calim "listen the opinion of locals" don't could be an argument.

  70. B.... M....

    Right. Even though the mood of this song might make you think Costello is for the war... but the very end he sings "when we could be diving for pearls" and the music becomes sad. I really think the song is against the war rather than for it. And yes I believe war should be a very last resort but too often one group of people always want more land and end up taking it from another. As a American I realize that my ancestors did that very thing as sad as it is for those who lose it.

  71. h.... ....

    Quite possibly all sorts of claims surround these islands. But only one is legitimate- and it is that of the islanders. I quite agree with your point that Kelpers should have full UK citizenry. I'm not sure I know what 'hegemonic leanings' are but will take a flying guess that it's the sort of nasty stuff Iran does constantly by meddling in the affairs of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan etc.

  72. a.... ....

    All sorts of claims surround the islands. I would argue it was a case of prior imperialistic claims. The fact that the conflict wasn't even declared speaks a lot, it was an instinctive reaction to the seizure of land we were unwilling to protect adequately, and of a citizenry who we would not even confer uk citizenship. Plus the neo-imperial actions of americans in operation condor only serves as a further reminder of hegemonic leanings.

  73. h.... ....

    'A simple concession'. By that you mean telling the people who'd lived there generations we were handing them over to thugs who'd probably apply the testicle electrodes for daring to listen to 'The Archers'? Argentina has no legitimate claim whatsoever to the Falklands.

  74. a.... ....

    don't be so foolish, it was an asymmetrical conquest in spite of the woeful state of our forces to deal with such a distant region. Summed up by the sinking of the Belgrano by nothing short of a nuclear submarine... easy and could have been a simple concession to the argentines who no doubt needed the resources you list, more than ourselves. It contributed to the collapse of said regime, however, though this was not pursued by us.
































































  75. a.... ....

    it was written for him first by mr. costello and clive langer, this would be the cover...

  76. h.... ....

    Great song but misses the point that a slightly-muddled-a- times-but-nonetheless-at-heart-brilliant-democracy fought and defeated a foul fascist regime.
    Please remember leftoids that the Falklands are not any sort of 'British Imperial Conquest'. Nobody really lived there until a few Scottish, Welsh and West Country sheep-shaggers (I am one)got shipwrecked and moved there. It's our oil, our penguins and our Bennies-Out-Of-Crossroads. Las Islas Malvinas será siempre británico!! Let's move on now.

  77. �.... �....

    I appeal to all the singers in the world, do not try to cover this song, it's pointless

  78. 1.... ....

    @Pitxuket....It was indeed a HIDEOUS mistake made by 2 beleaguered politicians to cover their own inadequacies.

    Nothing like this should ever happen again...BUT, politicians and oil are a very bad mix.

    From another Englishman who regrets the sad loss of life.

  79. E.... K....

    Hello Pitxuket, yes, it was a pointless and tragic waste of life. I look at the 'Falklands' as we call them, and wonder we SHOULD think of them as 'ours' - only because we stole them with cannon and sword a century before the 1982 war! 350 miles from Argentina, some 8,500 miles from the UK. I expect we would find it odd, if you claimed to own the Channel Islands!
    Peace, from one guy in England to you. We aren't all war-mongers, for the sake of it.

  80. E.... K....

    Gore Vidal called it "two bald men, fighting over a comb" - for Maggie, it was a chance to get idiotic flag-waving jingoistic patriotism behind the Iron-Lady. A better example of her 'popularity', would have been that she was the first Prime-Minister to need Downing Street to be security-cordoned with steel-railings and armed-police, as it so remains. I strolled down there on a school-trip, with the rest of my year, in 1981!

  81. A.... P....

    A war that was 'created' by U.S. secret services, and acted out by two power-hungry clowns...Galtieri and Thatcher. But most mortals will never really know 'just why' it started. Like so many other useless wars.
    At least Costello and Chet Baker brought beauty out of tragedy.

  82. k.... ....

    the best song of all time

  83. C.... S....

    Chet Beker Trumpet........

  84. i.... ....

    still doing it - did you see Ben Parkinson on the olympic torch relay? Two artificial legs (that had to be bought by HelpForHeroes Charity) , one arm missing and brain damage - AND HE WAS CHARGED £200 to buy his torch as a souvenir!

  85. S.... ....

    I am reasonably sure at 1:50 is the scene of the Royal Marines surrendering to the Argentinian commandos after the fight for government house in Port Stanley.

  86. I.... T....

    Best song...ever..!

  87. P.... X....

    If you reread the quote, you will see that Luis Borges was referring to the Falklands War. I think he died not too long after that, so he may have never even heard the song....

  88. m.... ....

    Oscar (and Jorge Luis Borges) were talking about the Falklands conflict, not the song Shipbuilding.

  89. m.... ....

    No it's not - it's about the conflict between the pride felt by the men who work in the shipyards building warships (thus providing jobs), and the feelings of the men and women who then take those ships and have to use them for the purpose for which they were built, and the losses. There's a v good BBC Radio 2 programme about the song available on the website now.

  90. O.... ....

    "The Falklands conflict was like two bald men arguing over a comb." Jorge Luis Borges

    O.... ....

    Where 1 Man stole the comb. So the other Man took it back and handed the other Man's ass to him. Never test the British. You'll loose.

  91. m.... g....

    Diving for life when we could be diving for pearls ! WOW

  92. d.... m....

    this song (i feel) is about unemployment and a town trashed by it! let's rebuild America, pass the jobs bill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  93. A.... R....

    Heard this just now at a Starbucks. It's good! Pretty Elton John-y. I didn't know I liked anything by Costello.

  94. D.... C....

    when I said 'henc' I ment hence

  95. D.... C....

    Im sure this is from his own influence henc living on both sides of the river mersey in Birkenhead and Liverpool and the hope of work in....

  96. s.... ....

    such a beautiful song, so much yearning juxtaposed with inescapable fate. The common man's heart hoping that his son shall be exepted whithin the military industrial complex that made his birth possible. It is not directly said, yet hinted at. This is a song that could be relevent now or later or even on an alien planet. It is barbaric yet tender at the same time. No wonder ignorance believes it is safe from God's wrathful judgement. Costello says: sure, you cannot be blamed. Pure genius.

  97. a.... b....

    Thank you! Appropriate for today, tomorrow & probably forever .....